A Bottle of Moments
by AB Firestar
Summary: A Jack and Ana fic: Anamaria won't let herself love Jack thinking he sees her only as his first mate. But does he really? Or is there more to the pirate that we love?
1. Wishful Thinking

**DISCLAIMER: **Unfortunately, under the given circumstances that I am but one fan in a crowd of billions, I do not have ownership of **Pirates of the Caribbean **and/or **Johnny Depp **and his fine piece of a--- let's continue with the story, shall we?

**A/N: **_This is my first piece of fiction that pertains to PotC, I do hope you enjoy it and please, try not to flame – behind my cold hearted bitch façade, I'm a sensitive Jackie Sparrow lover.

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Tortuga.

God how she hated the bloody place, the name itself an irritancy in each syllable pronounced.

The streets were not crowded with lovers – they were littered with the slime of the Caribbean.

The familiar aroma of Tortuga? Nothing more than the odor of the rotten and the careless.

Sins were traditions there in Tortuga; they were the source of life for the infamous stretch of land. Of course, no man was clean of sins and especially no man of piracy – and women, as well. Despite the insanity that was Tortuga, it was a sanctuary for all those that lived life against the rules and thus included her as well as the crew and captain in that category.

It was ironic to see how just about every man on the run nestled in the ever welcoming arms of Tortuga and yet not a single British flag (nor the Spanish Armada) dared to open fire or step foot in said place.

And a wise decision that was.

A shark against a fleet of dolphins is rendered victim but a fleet of sharks against those dolphins? Enough said.

She, though, could not stand the refuge that most pirates – if not all – deemed heaven on earth. Women, booze, fights – what more could a man possibly want on land?

Aye, it was everything _she_ despised on land. And there he was, in the midst of it all.

Why in the name of God, was he so enticed like all the others? He wasn't like them! He was more than what he led people to believe, more than what legends told of him. He sacked Nassau Port without "firing a single shot" as they say but no one ever seems to realize that he struggled through incomprehensible pain and fought against Death himself for that victory. He was as real as the stories made him and so much more.

So why the hell was he acting like a complete idiot in that tavern?!

The idea made her glare into the horizon, the sparkling waters of the Caribbean trying their best to soothe the woman with their gentle glitter. And yet it was not their effort that softened her countenance and stroked the fire in her to embers.

It was his face faintly emblazoned in her mind.

A Cheshire Cat smile (or had the feline taken the captain's trademark?) that accompanied dark mischievous eyes played on his visage; tanned skin glowing like gold in the sun, trinkets shimmering as they hung around his handsome face, a face that could infuriate, confuse and entice her and everyone else with mere expressions. And his voice…so suave even with his slurs and sometimes confusing dialect, like…a feather brushing against one's skin ever so gently and tenderly…

Ah!

What was she thinking?!

Before another thought of him arose in her wandering mind, Anamaria tilted her head back and gulped down a surplus amount of rum, hoping the burning sensation in her throat would eliminate the thoughts of that daft man.

She panted for a moment, as though the very notion of said captain exhausted her beyond understanding. Sitting with each leg between two spaces in the railings, absentmindedly swinging above the ocean waters, Anamaria contemplated on getting Jack Sparrow off her contemplation.

_**Captain** Jack Sparrow_, her conscious corrected, causing the brunette to moan in frustration. "God give me strength…" She murmured, her eyes shut tight as if to block out anymore oncoming thoughts of the pirate who stole her hea—

**GULP**.

She took another swing at the rum, frowning at the failure of her own will. "I am not….under….any circumstances…in love with that idiot," came the –hopefully – reassuring words, slow and struggled. Brown eyes opened and blinked to cease the blurriness of her vision – everything was so out of its normalcy and the damn world would not stop moving from underneath her!

Miss Anamaria Del Santos was drunk.

Another moan came whining through her lips, her hand grabbing the bar of the railing as she rested her head against it. She had never been drunk before; yes, she could hold her liquor as best as any man (save for Sparrow and Gibbs) in the crew but that night, she had lost the battle against dear ol' rum. Then again, considering how the slim figure (who now murmured something about a pirate being daft) had persisted to drink for two days and two nights consecutively, it was going to take a toll on her body.

And what a price she was paying for such a deed.

"It's all your fault, Sparrow…you stupid…stupid bird…"

Yes, it was he who was to blame!

Had he not angered the woman so with his stupid decision to rest at Tortuga, she would not have begun this drowning in rum procedure! She did not want to care about what he did once they arrived at bloody Tortuga Port and so she would douse herself into a cheery mood by drinking away into her own fantasy land, where pirates named Jack Sparrow were unknown and she had a ship of her own to name The Dahlia.

And who bloody cared if he disliked her sudden infatuation with rum! He knew how she would get!

And at this, Anamaria sighed miserably. "No…no he doesn't know…"

Captain Jack Sparrow did not know how she felt about his womanizing ways, about his flirtatious manners with just about anything with breasts and legs. He did not know how it boiled her blood to see his arms around a woman, his eyes twinkling deviously, aimed at said woman's features, muttering sweet nothings into her ear, charm dripping off his handsome skin and actions like the divine perspiration of a god.

He did not know how her very heart ached in its cage, the hurt only rivaled by anger that he caused for being so oblivious. Oblivious to the fact that she…she….

Ah, what did it matter?

"It isn't like he's going to care…so why should I care?" Anamaria growled to no one in particular, glaring into the horizon that did not stabilize in its changing colors. "If…he doesn't care….then I sure as hell…won't either…Cross my heart….false my heart…" Each word grew softer as her eyes closed tiredly and she gently fell back upon the washed deck of the Pearl, Anamaria unable to win the fight against the sleep that loomed over her.

And even as she drifted off to slumber, the gentle sea breeze dancing over her figure, Ana childishly murmured her thoughts. "Probably….probably with some….some whore…"

Alas, how very wrong she was.


	2. Rum as an Escape

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing pertaining to **Pirates of the Caribbean **except the Playstation 2 game, both movies, a costume, and a poster. But I can still daydream that I _do _own PotC and switch things around!

**A/N: **_Thank you for the reviews! Seeing your reactions to the story fuels me and gosh, I love you guys!

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Laughter erupted in the dancing house, one of many taverns overflowing with men and their desires. An uproar of joy burst about through every window and door of Tortuga but none seemed louder than the one a certain pirate king resided at for the moment. Past the endless throngs of lustful couples, around the crowded tables and over the flowing rum and empty bottles, hidden from view in a corner table was none other than Captain Jack Sparrow, the Scourge of the Seven Seas.

And said scourge was doing as nature intended him to: drink himself to merry death.

And yet his passion for alcohol would not be his fatal flaw, which Jack was quite grateful for, seeing as he loved the liquor past the point of obsession. And so to this, Jack drank to his heart's desire, sloshing down the rum as the world pranced about him.

"Cap'n!" A voice called or rather laughed all of a sudden, causing eyes that hid behind kohl blotched eyelids to allow themselves sight and perspective to the man who had called upon him. Jack Sparrow, half way to Drunk Land or not, knew before he saw that his mate, Gibbs, had been the one to ask for him. And by the looks of it, Gibbs was _living_ in Drunk Land as he came stumbling over to Jack's table, two mugs full to the brim with rum in each hand.

Noting the mugs, Jack leaned against the table, placing aside his empty tumbler and grinned at the giggling Gibbs. "Ah, Gibbs. This is exactly why you're my second mate, mate." At that, the elder man turned red as would a virgin who stumbled upon the handsome Sparrow and not wanting to lose any more dignity as a man, Gibbs took a swing at his mug, washing down the liquid quite greedily.

A little more than his usual tipsy self, Jack grabbed the other mug and placed it to his lips, drinking as his eyes wandered about the insanity that was the tavern. Skirts fluttered about as rum spilled over countertops and wooden tables, and the music – played by drunk musicians – created what Jack called " a bloody paradise for any man."

He leaned back in his chair, tilting it to stand on its hind legs and daring it to let him fall back but it never did as the chair supported itself against a wall.

Ah, this was the life.

The men needed to set foot on land that was not just sand and deserted but full of life; and what place was more livelier than Tortuga Port?

"Jack," Gibbs's voice appeared again, Sparrow looking to his drunk mate who seemed to finally have a steady gaze set on his captain. Jack only wondered just how long Gibbs would be able to hold that stare without his eyes crossing over right after…

"'Ey?"

"….Have ye seen Lady Malabar yet? She's been upstairs waitin' for ye, y'know."

Were Gibbs not so consumed by the effects of Rum, he would have noticed the wince Jack suffered from hearing the name of a mistress. Lady Malabar…Mala, as Jack had nicknamed her one night. And it was only one night! Yet that one night seemed enough to condemn him to a predicament he could not fix.

"Er….haven't seen her as of yet, Gibbs," came his muttered reply, Jack taking another shot of rum to quench the burning necessity for said liquor. In truth, it was also to smother that sudden dreadful feeling of having to deal with Mala. _Rather be set on fire than see her again…_

The redhead fury that the whole of Tortuga knew as Lady Malabar had been the grudge between all of his relationships. Scarlet hated him for being with Mala, Giselle loathed him for being with both Scarlet and Mala, and Mala simply didn't care who hated her – she had been in the arms of the infamous Cap'n of the Black Pearl and that was all that mattered.

And all that made Jack fear Malabar.

_It was one bloody night, a single night and the woman thinks she owns me soul,_ thought the slightly sour man, setting down his mug once he felt it empty.

"But y'know Jack….she's quite the peach, if ye know what I mean." Gibbs smirked, a toothy smile that bordered between devious and dumb, and Jack could only look back to the crowd in the tavern and mutter to himself, "Aye, a peach that I've taken a bite out of and has been more than I can chew."

There was no question as to why Lady Malabar awaited Jack's appearance upstairs. She never did quite understand the meaning of words that denied her access to what she wanted and unfortunately for the pirate, it was he whom the woman craved for. He had merely wanted company that night and just a bit of good ol' pirate fun. And with much irony placed in the situation, the harlot believed to have found love in Jack. Or rather….a deep lust for the man who avoided the woman like the plague itself and alas,whatever higher power that ruled the universe was, it seemed to delight much in making Jack Sparrow its comedic puppet.

"God I love rum…Bless rum, God, bless it with all yer blessing powers…" Gibbs drowned himself in the intoxicant, Jack looking at him with a glint in his eyes that could not be described as anything normal. It was not mischievous nor industrious, neither curious or spiteful. It was just….Jack Sparrow-ish.

Finding it to be quite the advantage that the man was dousing in rum and beyond the ability to comprehend correctly, Jack got up and lifted up his mug to take with him. He raised the rim of the tumbler once again to his mouth and waited for the cascade of rum to fill him but it didn't come, as expected. He pulled it away to look into the container, brows furrowing at the sight. "Why is the rum always gone….Ah well, off to find some more." He said it loud enough so Gibbs would understand it and as predicted, out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw his fellow companion nod to Jack's decision and continued with his activity. With that said and done, Jack began his journey towards the bar...or so it seemed.

He moved about with his eminent swagger, cattily avoiding bumping into anyone and anything. He was, of course, unable to keep it all intact and slammed into the counter of the bar with some force, having lost his footing in the midst of the journey. "Sorry, sorry," he excused himself, placing the mug down and rummaged his money pouch to pull out the amount needed to cover the cost of staying at such a…lovely tavern. Jack's dancing eyes met with the current bartender's and watched him smile at the captain. "Not a problem, cap'n. Ye come back here more often, ye hear?"

"Aye, a wonderful rendezvous this tavern be. Wonderful, wonderful." Jack was far more concerned at the moment, with the feat of leaving said wonderful place rather than the overly happy bartender to whose cheerful mood was because of Jack's silly mistake of paying more than what was required.

But he brushed off the very incident of talking to the bartender and went on his way, the exiting doors but a few yards to his right. Maybe he'd explore a new pub, meet new friends there, be far away as possible from ---

"**Jack Sparrow**!"

He froze. Everyone froze. Time froze.

Dark eyes closed in silent defeat as he kept his back turned, praying to the sea and her beautiful depths to let him become invisible and escape the oncoming plague.

_Oh bugger…

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End Note: **

_Another chapter to this silly story of mine! I do hope you liked it! I was going to continue the chapter but decided to leave it at that, cliffhangers are so much fun! Review if you can please, it drives my little brain crazy with joy lol! Till next time! _


	3. Tempered Fury

**DISCLAIMER: **In order to keep Pirates of the Caribbean a family movie and not a rated R flick, Disney has decided that I own nothing of PotC but merchandise that I buy myself. But I do own **Lady Malabar**! My creation so ha! Disney :P

**A/N: **_I do apologize for having you all wait this long for an update. I am truly sorry, I feel like scum and little fungi that you find at the bottom of a dead shark's teeth…sorry, I'm being weird again. Well, enjoy! And Merry Belated Christmas and all the other wonderful holidays!

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The silence felt heavy upon his shoulders, humid in its disposition as it settled itself onto the entire tavern. But even in the tension that one woman alone had summoned, Jack Sparrow could hear faint snickering brush against his ear; Jack was sure it was fate poking fun at him.

Sadly realizing that Lady Ocean would not indeed make him invisible and save him from the wrath that mimicked God's own, Jack slowly twirled around on his heels, his face a different style that opposed what he had just looked like.

There, at the top of the staircase stood none other than Lady Malabar.

There were very few sights that struck fear in Captain Jack Sparrow. Malabar was one of them. And yet he would not let her – or anyone else – know that he dreaded her very existence. So with a faux cheerful expression plastered to his face, Jack addressed the fury that awaited his recognition.

"Mala! I was just on my way to seek you out!"

Let it be known that once he spoke, all life in the tavern breathed once more but eyes and ears were quick to keep attention on the scene that would unfold between man and woman. A content smile kept dancing across his features, eyes rested on hers despite their want to look elsewhere.

Lady Malabar was not exactly a beauty.

In fact, Jack noticed much difference in her appearance and could not help but point them out as she stomped loudly down the stairs; no doubt her destination was to be right in front of the captain. Jack all the while, continued his verses, mentally marking down her flaws.

"Restlessly I searched for your wonderful conformation all through Tortuga when I arrived but complications arose, ensued, yet were overcome and I –admittedly selfish— decided to make berth here. I honestly did not know you were here, love!" He explained in a very fast manner, eyes steady on the plague incarnate as she snaked through the people and rooted herself before him at his last words.

There, standing before him, was Lady Malabar. She was of vibrant red hair that curled furiously in a messy bun toppling over her head, structured in short height despite her tall boots. Even now in his drunken yet frightened state, Jack did not find her appealing. The beautiful woman she had once been seemed to have vanished with the spare years past. Beady green eyes glared at Jack, almost hidden in their frames of dark lashes and heavy eyelids. Adding to the visage was a strong nose that opposed dainty, bloody red lips and a short neck to support the round face. And threatening to burst out of their thin restraint were her breasts, crushed together and pouring out of her dress in a manner that was repulsive. Even in the lovely soft green gown she wore, her attempts to be tempting ruined its beauty and thus ruined her.

But it was not the over-powdered face nor the rotting faux gold chain at her chest that caught his attention – bruises faintly skimmed the surface despite her obvious attempts to hide them. Yet no concern over her could be expressed in his countenance as Mala unleashed her wrath.

"Where have ye been?!" Came the screech that caused a momentary pause in the tavern but the party started up once more in normalcy.

Jack avoided flinching at her high-pitched voice and opened his mouth to answer, "I w—"

"QUIET!"

And so he did.

"Ye leave me here without a bloody farewell and spend months at sea, no message from ye, nothing! And then ye show up, prancin' about like there be blue skies forever and don't even bother to look me up! I don't care if ye be owner of the Black Pearl or not, ye need to have manners, Jack Sparrow!"

"Cap—"

"**QUIET!!**"

And so he did once more. Allowing himself to be chastised in front of an audience that praised him, Jack absent-mindedly fidgeted under her glare in spite of his towering height over her and immediately ceased paying attention to her though he nodded and pouted when his responses were needed.

His thoughts roamed about how completely stupid he currently was for having stepped into her territory even with knowing that she could have been there. He brushed upon the notion of his crew watching him be scolded by a woman no less, though something reminded him that they were used to his public humiliations performed by women. His stomach growled and so nevertheless that stirred thinking about more rum to drink – because hunger is only cured by rum, a theory Captain Jack Sparrow believed in like a religion. And then thinking about rum gradually led to a certain someone's health and how she had become infatuated with drinking all of sudden.

_She's never been that fond of rum before…she's usually telling me to stop and now she's drinking away like Gibbs and I. And she hasn't put down a bloody bottle ever since…since…what's today, Thursday? Since Tuesday!...I think…What's gotten into that woman? _

Still in the midst of being reprimanded like a child, Jack's brows furrowed – though it was not due to anything Lady Malabar must have been spitting at him but at the thought of Anamaria. To Jack's collection of thoughts, he had done nothing wrong to trigger that anger in said pirate girl; _but then again, everything I do infuriates her so how am I supposed to know how to differentiate between things that don't annoy and things that do? Bloody woman's a contradiction all by herself!_

Deep in thought, Jack contemplated on what he could have done out of the standard **Things that Annoy Lovely Anamaria Directory** and ensued in a recollection of things that might have angered her. His usual flirting was instantly marked off, another tally was his constant drinking, perhaps when he ordered her to help him clean his cabin? _No, no, that was before Tuesday…that was…before I…_

Here at the end of his trailing thoughts came an animated memory of what occurred before Tuesday.

…..**FLASH BACK**…..

"…_.Jack?" Sighed a cloyed Gibbs standing at the side of his captain. _

"_Gibbs?" Addressed the man who kept calm, brown eyes at the horizon before him. _

"…_Jack, it's been a while since we've made port…the men have been chirpin' about wantin' to see some land for a change. Even if it be just for a day." A hopeful gleam struck Gibbs's eyes as he looked at the side-view of the man's face, sunlight accenting the tones that claimed it. _

_Standing just at the either side of Jack was his first mate, whose eyes rolled at the sound of Gibbs' suggestion. She scoffed at the pleading tone Gibbs gave his words and almost glared in his direction. "Ran of out rum already, Gibbs?" _

_At that Gibbs peered towards her and gave her such a look that would be deemed as a look older siblings gave to smart-assed younger siblings. "No but we be running short on women here." _

_Her eyes widened at his reply and shortly after it came a growl from her deep within her throat as Ana turned to face Gibbs and opened her mouth to roar – but Jack interrupted casually, without sparing a glance at either of them. He could see from the corner of his eye that blazing anger Anamaria stood in and it was better to restrain it then unleash it – always. _

"_And what port do you have in mind, Mr. Gibbs?" _

_The blue-eyed pirate broke away from the fiery glare he shared with Anamaria and gently answered to Jack, seeing how his suggestion was being contemplated. _

"_Well…seeing as how we be best in a spot where there's no danger to us pirates…Tortuga?" _

"_Oh don't say it with such pity, Gibbs! Acting like you're all unsure of what port you're wanting to sleep in!" Snapped Ana, the dislike for said place seeping into her veins quite rapidly. _

_Gibbs, of course, ignored her as he awaited a response from Jack who seemed deep in thought about something or maybe, Gibbs considered, he was trying to disregard Ana's existence just as he was doing! _

"…_.Is that what the men truly want?" Calmly asked Jack. _

"_Jack!" _

"_Aye, Jack." _

"…_.Then to Tortuga it is." He smirked, finally setting all his attention to his two mates; one who was grinning and the other who gaped at Jack in shock. _

"_I'll go tell the boys, Cap'n!" Gibbs scurried away in glee, shouting the announcement that was reviewed with cheers and whistles. _

_Looking to the angry sprite beside him, Jack gave a casual smirk despite his noting that she was not in the brightest of moods. "What? We're all in need of some fun, love."_

_And at that, Ana narrowed her eyes and glared through a brown stare. "….Fun. I know what fun you want…." And she turned away, and marched off to the lower decks, leaving Jack sighing for a moment but he spared no more than a second on that and went on about, "Gibbs! It's past lunch, grab me a bottle!" _

…..**FLASH END**…..

Was that the reason? He acknowledged the fact that this would be the first outing to Tortuga that Ana would stay behind at the Pearl. Fun…was she thinking of that sort of fun? Surely she wouldn't care about whom he slept with and when….and for some reason, no woman caught his eye that night. Should he tell her that? That he had gradually begun to compare all the flowers in Tortuga to the fighting Venus Flytrap he claimed as his first mate?

"---And here ye be, just thinking' ye can waltz right in and not even bother to ask for me! What do ye have to say for yerself!"

His thoughts lingered in that direction, Ana's anger becoming clear to him – or at least he thought was clear and the haze that settled around him from all the alcohol he had downed began to dissipate.

"Anamaria…"

"**WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!**"

At the tone ascending in its pitch, Jack finally broke from his daze and looked to Malabar who grew red from the neck up. Did he just say Anamaria? _Not good._

Given no time to even speak much less breathe in what had just happened, Jack received what he normally received as a gift from all women who had met him.

**SMACK!**

"YOU BLOODY BASTARD! OUT! OUT WITH YOU!" Mala screeched, pushing at Jack even as he remained bent to the side with a hand cupping his stinging cheek. Had anyone noticed keenly, Jack did not stumble backwards from her pushes but instead kept his balance with sharp footing, though he indeed regained his clumsiness back when he was suddenly hauled around by the front of his shirt.

"Mala, I didn't me—"

"You shut up! You scurvy, vile, absolutely horrible sea dog!" He kept himself from toppling over her as she pulled him to the exiting doors and pushed him out, giving him a good kick in the arse as a final parting gift.

"Oomph!" He rubbed his backside softly and turned to look at her with a sorrowful face, eyes begging for forgiveness. And boy, did it take a lot not to smirk in victory as he caught her countenance softening as she looked onto him.

"You…You're…Ugh! Damn ye to hell, Jack Sparrow!" She cried out and twirled around, huffing away back into the tavern.

Alone in a crowd that went to and fro down that avenue, Jack smirked faintly and turned about, "I just went through hell, Mala…and it's Captain…" He muttered to himself, steadying his hat before he commenced his journey to his beloved Pearl.

Where a problem was waiting to be resolved. And he would resolve it, whether she wanted to or not. And he went about, whistling his favorite little tune, smiling as though nothing had happened for what was past was past to Jack.

"Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me….well, certainly not for Ana…"

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Endnote:**

_Well, that's been the longest chapter I've written in quite some time! I know, I know, when am I going to have Ana and Jack talk and be all cute and stuff! Next chapter, I assure you. And the next chapter won't take so long to be uploaded, I promise. Let's see…oh yeah, I'm trying really hard to not just have Jack be Jack. Like, I wanna add more to him and go under the surface. The surface being the Jack that we all know and love. Like we can clearly write up his actions and words but there's gotta be more than that. I wanna write what he thnks, what he does and why he does it, I wanna show the Jack behind the clumsiness, the clever Jack. It's friggin' hard to show what he's thinking and keep in character and make sure that it's not what I want Jack to think but what I can imagine he is probably thinking. That's why I bloody love Rat and Jackfan2 and all the other guys that just kick so much friggin' ass writing. Read their stuff, it's awesome. But yesh, enough rambling, I do hope you enjoyed it and do forgive me if you find it lacking – I did no revisions, just wrote and wrote, wanted to update already because hell, even I get bitchy when something's taking forever to come on. Ah but enough from me! Go read more Jack and Ana stuff!! Read and review and start writing so we can beat down all those Lizzy and Jack stories, muahahahaha!! _

_Oh yea, "blue skies forever"….my line:P _

_--- ABFIRESTAR _


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